The World's 18 Strangest Rides

Each year amusement parks around the world try to one-up one another by building bigger, faster and more intense rides. Abu Dhabi's Ferrari World recently announced plans for a roller coaster that will hit nearly 150 mph, while North Carolina's Carowinds park said it would build a roller coaster with a 211-foot drop. But roller coasters require significant amounts of land, massive investment, and can't be put on a trailer and hauled around the country. This is where a new crop of rides come in, providing more interactive experiences for passengers and bringing thrills to densely populated urban centers. Here, PM takes a look at some of the strangest, scariest and most innovative non-roller-coaster rides.

1: SkyRoller

1: SkyRoller

Background: Manufacturers have been looking for ways to make rides more interactive since the late '40s, and SkyRoller, designed by German ride maker Gerstlauer, is a fine example of how far the industry has advanced.

How It's Unique: This swing-type contraption allows riders to control the number of barrel rolls they do by manipulating the positioning of the wings as they spin around. The concern often is subjecting riders to high g's for a sustained period, but points out that SkyRoller is self-limiting in many ways, according to Edward Pribonic, an engineering consultant for theme parks and a former design manager at Walt Disney Imagineering. "The faster you roll, the higher the g value would be," he says. "But the faster you roll, the g-force duration becomes shorter. Since you're going through it so quickly, you hit that peak g-force for only a split second and drop out of it." And while there is no limit on how many barrel rolls a rider can perform, nausea tends to be a nice biological safeguard.

2. X-Scream

2. X-Scream

Background: X-Scream is essentially a teeter-totter for adrenaline junkies that tilts riders 27 feet off the edge of the Stratosphere Las Vegas.

How It's Unique: Rides like X-Scream take advantage of a built environment to create new thrills. Pribonic explains that the ride uses a relatively low-tech magnetic braking system, based around a copper blade that is attached to the bottom of the car. As the ride rolls forward, the blade slips in between a row of magnets before hitting a rubber bumper that brings it to a standstill. As the ride is tilted backwards, the blade slips out and heads toward an identical row of magnets at the other end. "I take comfort in the solid, heavy-duty, easy-to-see mechanical connections," Pribonic says. "Everyone is locked in, and everything is locked down."